Monitor sizes

[Neil B]

I currently have a 19" TFT monitor and am considering moving up to a 24" widescreen TFT.

I was just wondering what monitors you guys use and if it's worth me getting a bigger one.

[arela]

2 x 19" is what i use - 1 for Cubase and 1 for Scope.

a 24" is 1920*1200 while two 19" is 2* 1280*1024

[Refrochia]

2* 19inch at 1600x1200
One showing scope and one showing Logic.
Like the hi res-more fits in the screen but the text on the VOID synth is pretty much unreadable

[Neil B]

Thanks for the replies so far.
Dual moniotr sounds interesting - does it take much brain power to sset up & configure?

[Refrochia]

No not really - you sometimes need to install a dual monitor driver. Once thats done, you get some extra options in the properties for your graphics card - configuring them is easy enough to figure out.

I have all my outboard gear going into scope via an A16 so its handy to have a monitor displaying the scope mixer.

[Cochise]

I recently added a 19'' wide TFT (1440 x 900) to my 15'' TFT (1024 x 768) and I'm using them in a vertical desktop setup.
Having different screens I've spent some time setting colours, brightness and contrast to get the most plain visualization on both.

[Cochise]

I have all my outboard gear going into scope via an A16 so its handy to have a monitor displaying the scope mixer.

Ok its OT, but... is there any way to make XP to let more than one window as active ( I have to click the window to make it active, then I can operate inside) ?

[astroman]

regarding convenience...
I see it every day in the office where we use 22" Eizo screens (1600x1200)...

there is a tremendous difference in eye stress between a 'regular' TFT and these high-quality devices - don't remember the exact prices, something in the 800 Euro range.
You really should consider such 'subconscious' effects if you plan to spend many hours highly concentrated in front of the screen.
Try to avoid rather large illuminated areas that your eye cannot 'escape' if they are built from one or more cheapo displays. I'd rather vote for two 19" things in a row in a budget situation (max two 22" wide screens).

cheers, Tom

[Cochise]

Don't know if it's exactly that, but 2000:1 looks like being an excessive contrast ratio as for eyes fatiguing when working in dark environments.
My new monitor is a cheap one, but all is fine with it apart from the above ( I didn't noticed it in the floodlit shop room ).
No whine in the audio with it ( have a look here ) though I can hear a subtle whine if I draw my ear near the screen, but it doesn't propagate to the audio and disappears at high brightness levels..

[Neutron]

2x el cheapo 22" samsung widescreens on a monitor arm, one for scope and one for sequencer.
on my other PC i have a 24" LG one which is really nice, i would have 2 of them for the music stuff but they wont fit on my limited space

[katano]

2 x 20" TFT (1680x1050) and 1 x 22" (1600x1200)

[Neutron]

nice control room!

did you make those monitor (speaker) stands they look almost axactly like what i need!

[kylie]

recently I switched to a 26" tft (ok, if you read the fineprint it's only 25.5"), coming from a 21" crt (which was a temp replacement for my dead 18" tft).
I was kinda afraid to have 1920x1200 on 24" since I saw one (not the same manufacturer, though) that I found slightly too sharp with the same resolution.
this might not apply to the little brother of mine, but I considered it safer to have the bigger one.
I consider it a major improvement. maybe I add a secondary small screen when I rearranged my desk, but for now a single screen is all that fits, so dual screen was no real issue for me.

[katano]

nice control room!

did you make those monitor (speaker) stands they look almost axactly like what i need!

actually i used 4 of those:
http://www.thomann.de/gb/millenium_bs30 ... rstand.htm

and then simply put a wood planket on it... works like a charm

[Neil B]

Thanks to all for such a huge range of ideas.
Tom, I can't really afford the expensive boyos you mention (well I can afford it, just can't justify it to my wife!)

I think I may buy a 24" for Cubase, give my wife my existing 19" (if you'll excuse the expression ) and use her old 15" as a dual monitor for Scope.
I suppose that depending on what part of the process of a song I was involved in, I could swap the 2 monitors so Scope was on 24" and Cubase on the 15".

A real big thanks again folks.

[chriskorff]

I use 2 x 19" widescreens (total 2880 x 900 pixels). I have to say that recently I'm finding the vertical resolution a bit limiting - I can just about see the whole of the STM2448 in the routing window!

Cheers,

Chris

[astroman]

...Tom, I can't really afford the expensive boyos you mention (well I can afford it, just can't justify it to my wife!)...

understandable - not much different here
but whenever I come to the office I say to myself what an idiot I am to spend half of my life in front of such a crap - just because I preferred to aquire a new bass, or a guitar, or a synth device, or...

cheers, Tom

[Neutron]

i wouldnt mind some of this for scope!

http://girtonlabs.googlepages.com/sensesurface

[siriusbliss]

4 monitors total, including 3-20" Dells using Matrox TripleHeadToGo (VGA), and 4th is now HDTV option driven via DVI using Nvidia card.

Greg

[Neil B]

Nice one - I think that may be wider than my little studio


Anyway - today I bought a Samsung 22" Syncmaster 2232BW widescreen TFT for an exceptionally cheap price (bargain and a long story). Resolution is 1680*1050 with a contrast of 3000:1.
As others have written, I also need to spend time balancing out the sharpness, brightness etc etc.

Hopefully I'll add my wife's old AOC 15" TFT as a second monitor so look out in OT for questions on how to set it up, and loads of stupid questions too, no doubt.

Once again, thanks all for your contributions